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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sheet Music Flower / Scarf Slide Tutorial

People...I have a sickness. I bought this old sheet music song book for 4th grade from the 1940's and I am now obsessed with covering everything in it or doing pretty presentations with it for gifts. I've already mod podged it onto a candle too. I told you, I'm sick. Yesterday I was itching to make some sheet music rosettes and I was ticked off at how they were coming out. Then I started thinking of other ways I could make flowers and then I wondered if I could make a scarf slide out of the flowers for the 50 scarves I picked up at Nordstrom Rack in Chicago last year. This is the answer to that question...

Here's what you'll need:

Sheet music (duh! But you can also print your own off at various graphics sites)
Mod Podge MatteFabric Stiffener
(Mod Podge can be used if you don't have any)
Foam Brush
Jute Twine or whatever you want to be the "slide" part
Wax Paper and/or cling wrap
2" and 3" scalloped paper punchLong Needle
Various small objects to mold the flower around (I used a wine cork, lotion bottle and pepper shaker!)
The embellishment you want for the center. I used a wired pearlized "berry" but I also used a jingle bell for a magnet or brads
work very well and give a flat back to work with. The possibilities are endless.

Cut the edges off of your sheet music so you can easily use your scalloped punch. Cover the sheet music with a layer of Mod Podge and let dry. Flip it over and do the same to the other side.

While you're waiting for the sheet music to dry, if you choose to use a twine or yarn for your slide you'll need your fabric stiffener or Mod Podge. Find a bottle the girth you want the slide to be, I used a Tacky Glue bottle. Wrap it in cling wrap or wax paper so the glue doesn't stick to it. Put a nice, thick swath of glue over the ends and the middle of the wrapped twine. Put it glue side down on some wax paper to set. When the ends don't come apart, put the glue/stiffener on the rest of the twine to set it. It will dry clear.

While you're waiting for that to dry, the sheet music should be ready to go. Get out your 3" punch and do four punches. Get your 2" punch and punch out four of those.

I had a lei needle on hand. What? You don't have 9" lei needles laying around? Okay, just get the longest one you can or even a bamboo skewer would work or one of those screwdrivers from an eyeglass kit and put a hole in the middle of all of the sheet music punches. Make a hole big enough for the wire from your embellishment or brad to go through. Shape the larger punches by molding them over the end of a bottle slightly smaller than the punch. I used an 8 oz lotion bottle. Repeat that with all four larger punches.

When your first one is ready, dab a little Mod Podge close to the needle hole and use the needle as a "place keeper" so the glue doesn't fill up the hole as you press one sculpted punch on top of the next and repeat with each large punch. Then it's time for the smaller punches. I shaped mine using a wine cork. Repeat the process by using the needle as a place keeper to keep the forming flower straight and not let the glue close up the hole. Add the small punch on top of the layers of large ones then layer the small ones until they're all used up.

You can see your flower is almost ready to go! Add a little Mod Podge to the center near the hole and slide your embellishment through the middle, press down and let dry. Could you not just eat that up?

Carefully slide your hardened twine off of your bottle. (Mine still had a few wet spots but I'm impatient. For best results wait until it's fully dry) Wrap the wire tightly around the twine ring where the ends were so that part is covered up. Center the flower where you want it then add some Mod Podge to the inside over top of the wire to secure it. If you have some felt on hand, cut a piece of it to cover up the wire/glue glob. I didn't have any but I'm going to go back and add it just so I don't accidentally snag my scarf.

Wait for it to dry, fluff your flower to your desired look and you're ready to go! I love this so much I might make one for my friend as an extra gift for Christmas since she wears a boatload of scarves too.

It goes without saying you could use the flower tutorial portion for tons of stuff like a barrette, tie backs for curtains, magnets, use push pins through the middle for really unique cork board embellishments, ornaments for your tree, a necklace, a pretty addition to the top of a mason jar then gift it to someone...ooh, I'm using that one! See!

BLAM! Instant Christmas gift for the teacher, boss, co-worker with a magnet to use when the candy is gone.

BLAM! The perfect accouterment to liven up a plain hair comb, barrette or hair pin.

Awesome! I don't have much use for scarf slides since it is seldom cold enough to use a scarf-lol, but the jar topper is awesome!! Three teachers need gifts and I have an abundance of sheet music. Very nice project. Thanks for sharing the how-to :).

Oh man, I could have totally hooked you up when I used to be a librarian. My department would get the donations and since we were the state library, we already had most of the things people were donating & so many of those old books ended up in the garbage. These are so cute--they'd make a great garland for a Christmas tree too!

You are one of the most creative and talented people I know! I'm in awe of the creations you make, both in the food arena and in crafts. Me? I can't get two matchsticks to line up evenly. I absolutely love seeing these divine creations of yours!

I like this a lot! I come from a family of musicians; between all of us, we sure do get a lot of bizarre music-themed gifts! (It was even worse when I had cats. Cats and Music all in one gift; those trinkets do exist and they're probably all in my house!) This is totally new and as I was reading, I was coming up with lots of variations on your theme! (Now I have to figure out how to convince the gift-givers to give this a try!)

Thanks for taking the time to comment! I appreciate thoughtful readers like you! If your comment doesn't show up right away, check back in a few minutes. I promise it'll get posted. The system can get a little glitchy. (Rude or spammy comments will be deleted. Fair warning.)

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I've lost over 200 lbs the old fashioned way with some more to go. I'm doing this with my hubby (The Mr) and he has lost 190 lbs so far. I wanted to share my journey as well and give people with a lot of weight to lose hope that this can be done without surgery! Passionate about photography, cooking, traveling, DIY and anything 80's.

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